It sounds like a hiss reduction recording that was adjusted with EQ, instead of using noise reduction. I used to record like that on purpose, but I don't like it anymore. There is a good option with the only 24-bit in the archive for this date. It is such a good set list. You must try the 24-bit. Note that the greek always sounded bright to me in person and the bass would be clear while bright tones reverbed more, so perhaps Charlie and others are going for a brighter tone because it sound like that color of the space, which feels great in person: very uplifting.

My goodness......what a fabulous show! Don't think I had heard this one before.

They come out the gate smokin hot and the first set is just wonderful. I love the set lists from this era. 2nd set has some great explorations and the drumming is especially tasty. Jerry is on fire throughout this show and the band is most certainly on top of their game.

I just love early 80's Dead.....its where I got on the bus. So this was the Dead's "cocaine phase".......but I find the music from this era high energy with technically great sound. Brent was new in the mix, the scene was still relatively small and intimate. Damn I miss those days.

This is a great audience recording and bless all you techies out there for your dedication to supreme sound. The Dead's sound was always cutting edge and 2nd to none. Many fine people worked hard at getting it down. Thanks to such forward thinking we can still listen to the music play :o)

My original comment:There's no way this version is a straight flat transfer of the master cassette or that the Dolby B is properly decoded. It has a very obviously boosted high end. It is probably a Dolby B master played back without proper decoding. That is more likely than EQ being applied. Either way, the noise(hiss) that is very audible between songs is too loud and the frequency balance is too falsely bright to be natural. That false brightness is appealing in the same way that certain types of cosmetic surgery are appealing if you know what I mean... some people just like it and don't care that it's fake.

Edit2011-12-30: Since one can only post once in these threads I'll just add to my original post.

OK. So I was right in detecting the Dolby pre-emphasis boost. No need to be defensive Charlie, audience recordings are inherently variable. I've made great ones and not so great ones. The not so great ones i haven't circulated when obviously superior ones are available. This is not the best version of this show, plain and simple. Nothing wrong with that.

Honestly Charlie, your efforts and contributions to GD tape collecting are exemplary, but this was a miss, not a hit. It does not "sound fine", especially in A/B listening comparison to the other versions I mention above. As an editor, you can't improve the source material you're given to work with, that's fine. But can we not have to pretend that because you transferred and edited it, that somehow automatically means it IS the best version, it isn't. Granted, you aren't the one promoting that idea, but in all my 35+ years of recording, trading, etc, one thing is certain, there are no taper gods, nobody ALWAYS has the best version. Happy New Year.

2014-01-17
Ok Sir-Miss-Alot I'm not remotely off base. He did not decode the dolby just as I suspected. Do you you understand how Dolby B works? It applies a boost, a form of equalization curve, in a dynamic way (varies with volume levels) mostly to lower volume signals that are above 1khz. That's known as a pre emphasis boost. To get the original microphone signal back at the tape deck output, DE emphasis must be applied. If that isn't done, then all the boosted frequencies and tape noise remain. The effect is like an exaggerated equalization job.

For Dolby to perform as designed, the playback deck must have its Dolby calibration as correct as possible, speed as correct as possible, and be aligned with the track azimuth as originally recorded by the recording deck. If those are far enough off, the quality of the de emphasis application will be poor and the output sound will suffer as a result. There is no circumstance where leaving the Dolby B undecoded results in anything resembling optimum performance. It's ignorance of the technical facts to think so. If the playback deck being used can't be adjusted to achieve optimum playback of a tape made on a different machine, then different playback decks need to tried till a good match is found. That's why I sought out a Nakamichi Dragon. It's the single best playback cassette deck ever made. It aligns itself to the azimuth of the tape and its Dolby circuit is the best quality and calibration. If a Dragon doesn't get satisfactory playback, then the recording deck was way off to begin with.

If Charlie thought the post deemphasis output quality was poor, he should have tried other decks. Just flipping off the Dolby B switch was not an adequate solution to the problem. It doesn't do justice to what is actually ON the tape and could be retrieved.

2014-05-28
Hey CatfishJohn222, um, you say I'm arrogant? Smug? lol!

I didn't pick apart the show, I pointed out a flawed transfer. It's possible to do better sounding transfer of this master source. Why wouldn't you want that to happen if you believe the performance to be so great?

If top quality sourcing, transferring and editing are the goal, because after all, the transfer job is what everyone will live for years to come, then what's wrong with pointing a less than top quality transfer job? What's smug about it? In order to have the credibility to make the criticism, I have to demonstrate that I know what I'm talking about right?

What is utterly perplexing is that no one has ever had a monopoly on quality or skills or 100% perfect track record, so why do you insist on praising a flawed piece of work?

A little bit arrogant, are we? It's a decent recording man. And a smokin show at that. No need to pick it apart because of a little hiss. We get that you know all about taping, transferring, etc. But you don't need to get all smug about it. Take a deep breath and listen to the music.

Anyways thanks Charlie! I always look for your name on a source to listen to as it is probably the best version. You sure know what you're doin!

Please read Charlie Miller's entry below. He states that he did NOT use EQ during the transfer of this recording. NHoey is way off base.

This is the best AUD source to listen to for this concert.

sounds superb.

Nhoey-Charlie is an archive god, his techniques are not to be questioned by mere mortals. Bless the powers that be that we get to enjoy the fruits 0f his labor.
Thank You Charlie

Long a favorite show of mine, taking a fresh listen right now for the first time in a couple years, so I figured I would review...

First Set
One for the ages...one of the great first set's of the latter day Dead. Garcia is in one of those "smack zones" he hit occasionally in the early 80's...he is en fuego throughout.

The opening Shakedown is funky and jammed out...Jerry really stretches things out. Very quickly it's clear that the makings are there for a special night. GSEt is its usual high energy self, with that little something extra on top...strangely enough, FOTD and El Paso are the tunes that cause the listener that something is really happening here. The slowed down FOTD, so often a bathroom break, catches fire thanks to Garcia, who just will not stop-actually puts together a hot little jam that gets kinda bluesy before the final return to the FOTD theme. What follows is my favorite El Paso, solely due to the energy of Garcia's neverending lead...check it out. So if two first set throwaways were that hot, what happens when they play something big like, say...Bird Song?It comes next. At this point Garcia is absolutely in the zone. Even his intro riffs have a little extra oomph. As soon as he's done singing the first verse, it is off to the races. He riffs on the theme for a minute before taking it beyond, stopping for a moment when he lights upon a riff that amuses him...at one point he almost gets into a 72 space, like a tiny little baby Tiger jam...at this point Jerry's energy is clearly rubbing off on the rest of the band. I am reminded in this Bird Song jam of why this show gave me new appreciation for Bobby's rhythm work...he is playing some cool stuff, trying to match Garcia's energy...at one point they get into a little groove together that is very cool. Jam twists and turns, no wasted moments until it finds its way home for the second verse and then Cassidy!As in El Paso, Jerry's guitar effectively has its own vocal line in this song...and not in an obnoxious or distracting way. It works. After "let the words be yours I'm done with mine" Garcia immediately takes the jam in a spacey direction, Bob eager to keep up. It is only about 90 seconds-2 minutes tops before it's back to "flight of the seabirds" and the end of the song, but a hot little jam it is!Bird Song and Cassidy are two of my favorite first set songs, and it's thrilling to hear them played so well back to back. I'd have to assume that these versions are among the best of the decade for both songs. After some tuning and spaced out Bobby banter, during which the hometown Greek crowd takes to chatting(which makes for good light entertainment on these Auds) Jerry telegraphs the Jed, then the band kicks into it for real a few seconds later. This is noteworthy only as yet another first set standard played to its fullest here, thanks to the guitar styling of one J. Garcia. Show me a hotter solo on an eighties T. Jed-I'd be thrilled to hear it!The Greek crowd roars its appreciation as he winds back into the final chorus. Bobby picks up LLRain out of the ashes of Jed-and since we all know that the best part of LLRain are the Jerry licks in the background, and since we've by now gotten the message that Jerry is ON tonight...should be a treat. Indeed, this stands as my favorite version of Looks Like Rain. I just listened to another hot 80's show, 09.11.82, which is also a Jerry show and also features an LLRain which is quite good...I can say definitively that this one is better. But the best is yet to come as this epic first set closes with China Cat>Rider(Shakedown, Bird Song, Cassidy, China>Rider...that's some set). China Cat comes on big and bold, colored by the fullness and majesty of Jerry's leads. The jam into Rider absolutely smokes. Burn these discs for the Bobby-lover in your house as this tape and the other excellent AUD of this show by Jim Wise both feature Weir high and clear in the mix, and playing some creative stuff, trying to work off of Garcia's energy. The Rider is big fun, as always-Jerry relishes the headlight, getting in some fanning before the cool Colorado rain. whew!

don't think I have enough reviewing left in me for the whole second set, but the Scarlet>Fire is too good to escape mention. a definite keeper. all of pre-drums is really quite goods...after drums there seems to me to be a definite dropoff. had this show on three discs for many years-wore out the first two while the third collected dust, more often than not.

ABSOLUTELY GET THIS SHOW!

I did not use EQ on this transfer. Unlike the other Bob Wagner recordings, this one was played back without the dolby on. Due to Bob's location, there was an extreme amount of low end on the recording. When I played it back with dolby, it was so muddy and bassy that it was unlistenable. I would have had to EQ that crap out of it that I just chose to turn off the dolby. I think it sounds fine. There's also a Jim Wise recording and Joani Walker recording that I transferred.

Actually, it sounded so bad with the dolby on that I had doubts that it was even recorded with dolby.

This show just cooks-- excellent fidelity too. Get it.

Thanks to all for the excellent job of taping, transferring, etc. And THANKS for SHARING!

This is choice stuff.

This is the source to go for out of all the versions out there. Great balance and sound quality.
The show itself is truly excellent. Jerry is right on top of his game and plays some beautiful stuff throughout. I almost prefer the first set as it is played so well. A great West coast feel Shakedown, a scorching El Paso, Bird Song jam which digs in hard - I could go on.
Great second set too though. Love this version of Estimated > Eyes > Space.
Throughout the show the band sound into it & relaxed enough to let the jams go to some nice places. One of the best shows from '81 in my opinion.

This is the source to get. It's a very clear audience recording showcasing Jerry in peak form. The setlist is as good as it gets with great jamming in the first set- Birdsong, Cassidy and China-Rider. Scarlet-Fire is typical 1981 high energy and even CC Rider is elevated to the 2nd set and Jerry doesn't disappoint with an ending solo that could have been played at any metal concert at the time. If you like this show also check out the near twin show on 8-27-81. Way too many shows get 5 stars but this one deserves it.

FANTASTIC SHOW GREAT PLAYING but from the seven different sources present here which is the best?

help !